Weekly Road Report – West End Ward

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DUNDEE CITY COUNCIL – ROAD REPORT FOR THE WEST END 

REPORT FOR WEEK COMMENCING MONDAY 10 APRIL 2017

Riverside Esplanade/Riverside Drive (Tay Road Bridge off ramp to 75m along Riverside Drive) – westbound nearside lane closure for 32 weeks to facilitate V&A construction works.

SSE Glenagnes Cable Renewal – Lochee Road lane restrictions and closures on Blinshall Street, Fleuchar Street and Scott Street for 4 months.

Blackness Road/Glamis Road – temporary traffic lights for 2 weeks for gas main renewal.

Insurance regulator chief Xiang Junbo under probe

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Xiang Junbo, chairman of China Insurance Regulatory Commission (CIRC), is currently under probe, according to China’s top anti-graft authority.

The Central Commission for Discipline Inspection of the Communist Party of China said in an online statement Sunday that Xiang was being investigated for suspected serious violation of the Party’s code of conduct.

Xiang is also Party chief of CIRC.

First original Tibetan cartoon to hit TV screens

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Tibet’s first original cartoon series will hit TV screens in May, featuring stories about legendary Tibetan folk hero Agu Dainba, a Nasreddin-like figure.

The Tibet Tianli Company will produce the cartoon, which will be broadcast via Tibetan media, including Tibet TV Station and Lhasa TV Station, over 52 episodes. The series will use puppet animation and be dubbed in the Tibetan language.

Agu Dainba, or Uncle Dainba, is a household name in Tibet. In Tibetan folklore, he is noted for his intelligence and helping free the poor from their feudal rulers.

The cartoon will retell over 20 stories about the wise man, known for his funny stories and anecdotes.

The producer will also publish a series of cartoon books and other related products to roll-out nationwide.

The folk figure appeared in Tibet’s first comedy in 1983. Playwright Soinam Cering said that he had collected more than 200 stories about Uncle Dainba from local people.

Another cartoon production was launched in Tibet Autonomous Region last year, featuring Gesar, another Tibetan legend.

Based on “The Epic of King Gesar,” a World Intangible Cultural Heritage item listed by UNESCO, the cartoon is still under production.

The masterpiece of Tibetan folk literature has been preserved by local singers and storytellers since the 12th century.

Tibet started a census on intangible cultural heritage in 2006 to preserve and promote traditional cultural resources. Over 1,000 forms of intangible cultural heritage, including music, dance, craftsmanship,medicine and folkways, were recorded in the census.

“The Epic of King Gesar” and Tibetan opera were among 89 items recognized as national-level intangible cultural heritage.

The curious case of the Scottish economy

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Before the EU referendum the Scottish economy was growing far more slowly than the UK as a whole. From the 2008 crash to 2015 the Scottish economy only advanced by 4% in cash terms, compared to 23% for the UK. Since the referendum the Scottish economy has continued to underperform. On the latest figures the UK is growing around 1.2% real more per annum than Scotland, with the Scottish economy in danger of stalling.

It clearly isn’t the EU referendum doing that as a few would suggest. It is a longer term Scottish  trend. Part of the reason is the decline in oil output. The North Sea fields are in decline. As oil volumes and revenues tail off, so that has knock on effects to the supply industries and the service sector that has lived off the oil industry where it is strong.

Recent figures show disappointing results for manufacturing as a whole, and a weak balance of payments. Scotland spends more per head in the public sector than England. Scotland borrows more as a percentage of GDP to support public spending than the UK as a whole. If larger deficits and higher public spending made for more growth , Scotland would have a more successful economy than England. It does not seem to.

I would be interested in views on why Scotland has been lagging, and what the Scottish government can and should do about it. The SNP live on the fact that the Scottish average GDP per head is  not too bad compared to the UK and European averages, but this relies on the residual advantages of a declining North Sea oil sector and past achievements from pre the 2008 crash. They need to answer more of the questions about the disappointing performance over the last decade when they have been in office, and to explain why so far their approach has not even succeeded in getting Scotland back to the average growth rate for the UK as a whole. The crash of course hit the high value added financial sector whose Investment Bank activities were concentrated in London, but this has  not had the same impact on the London economy as the oil decline on the Scottish one.

Peking University to start enrollment for Oxford campus

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China’s prestigious Peking University will start staff recruitment and student enrollment for its British campus in the city of Oxford in June, according to the dean of HSBC Business School of Peking University Sunday.

Peking University signed with the Open University in February to purchase the 15-acre campus in Oxford for 8.8 million pounds (10 million U.S. dollars). This was the first time that a Chinese university has used its own finance to set up and manage a school in a foreign country, according to Hai Wen, dean of HSBC Business School.

He said the school would enroll 100 international students when it opens in August 2018.

It will coincide with the 120th founding anniversary of the the elite Beijing university.

“The timing is monumental. In 1818, China’s first foreign-founded school, Ying Wa College, was set up by a British missionary. Now 200 years later, a Chinese university will set up its own school in Britain,” he said.

Hai said that in recent years, many foreign universities had opened schools in China. Peking University, as one of China’s top universities, should play a leading role for Chinese universities to go global.

He said HSBC Business School’s finance, management and economics courses will feature Chinese business cases to help students become better acquainted with the Chinese economy and reforms. Students will take the first year course in the Oxford campus and the second year at the school’s campus in the city of Shenzhen, southern China.

Students on the school’s Shenzhen campus will be allowed to select elective courses on the Oxford campus.